Mark Beyer

Australian Mine Services managing director Ian Massara has clear memories of winning his first job with BHP Billiton.

Brisbane company Super Cheap Auto is facing an estimated $490,000 stamp duty bill on its purchase of car parts retailer Marlows after the State Administrative Tribunal ruled on its dispute with the Commissioner of State Revenue.

The average age of the residents in standard retirement villages in Australia is 79 years, but at National Lifestyle Villages the residents’ average age is 59 years.

This year’s Rising Stars awards attracted 52 entries from a wide range of business sectors, all committed to innovation and growth.

Mount Gibson Iron managing director Luke Tonkin, fresh from effectively completing the acquisition of Aztec Resources, has played down the immediate prospect of more takeovers in the junior iron ore sector.

Gold miner Resolute Limited has announced that cash costs at its Golden Pride mine in Tanzania will increase by US$10-15 per ounce after it agreed to modify tax concessions and spend more on community development programs.

Consulting engineers Connell Wagner have lost their contract on Fortescue Metals Group's $3.7 billion Pilbara iron ore project after a dispute over fees.

Million dollar salary packages are becoming increasingly common in Western Australia, WA Business News's fourth annual remuneration survey has found.

Subiaco company Natural Fuel has launched Australia’s biggest biofuels float at a time when other companies in the sector have either scrapped capital raising plans or suffered a hammering by investors.

Health supremo Neale Fong has retained his status as Western Australia’s highest-paid public sector employee, followed by the chief executives from a clutch of public trading enterprises.

Perth companies Monadelphous and Macmahon have a lot in common. They both service the booming resources sector, have about 3,000 staff, reported similar profits in 2006, achieved strong shareholder returns over the past three years, and have a similar mar

Aquila Resources and Paladin Resources provide stunning examples of the huge value that can flow from share options when companies achieve large and sustained increases in their share price.

After spending eight years and $33 million developing its pearl farming business in the Northern Territory, Perth company Arafura Pearls is hoping it is finally ready to deliver profitable returns.

Western Australia’s biggest industrial company, Wesfarmers, has become the place to work for ambitious young executives hoping to earn more than $1 million.

Wesfarmers chairman Trevor Eastwood sits at the blue chip end of the business spectrum, while Reg Gillard is a veteran mining promoter at the more speculative end of the market. What they have in common, however, is a big income from their directors’ fees

The past year has been a tough period for some of Western Australia’s best-known food manufacturers.

The founder of transportable housing manufacturer Blue Ridge, Alan Mackenzie, is planning rapid expansion of the business after buying it back from short-lived owner Cool or Cosy.

Rio Tinto has used the official opening of its HImselt pig iron plant at Kwinana to predict that five commercial HIsmelt plants could be in operation within the next decade.

Iconic smallgoods producer D'Orsogna typifies the challenges facing food manufacturers in WA, which are refining their strategies in response to an increasingly competitive market.

Mt Gibson Iron's hostile takeover offer for Aztec Resources has taken a surprise turn with Cambrian Mining selling its 19.9 per cent Mt Gibson stake to a large Russian iron ore and steel producer.

The Bunbury Port Authority has negotiated an agreement with woodchip exporter Hansol PI that is designed to allow both woodchips and coal exports to proceed throught the port.

Hong Kong investor Shanghai Merchants Holdings has declared Mt Gibson Iron's hostile takeover offer for Aztec Resources a failure at current levels and has called on the two companies to negotiate an acceptable merger agreement.

Kwinana industrial services company Ausclad Group has lifted its order book to $184 million after winning three new contracts in the iron ore, energy and nickel sectors.

Western Australia’s resources and infrastructure boom has driven a near 50 per cent increase in the number of engineering jobs in the state in the past two years, according to data compiled for WA Business News’ Book of Lists.

The University of Western Australia has amended its legal claim against former staff member Dr Bruce Gray and the company he founded, Sirtex Medical Ltd, over ownership of various intellectual property.

Car dealer John Hughes turned 70 last December, but instead of slowing down and planning for retirement, he has purchased a new dealership.

Former AMP Financial Services state manager Mike Jones has built a substantial independent financial services group in Western Australia under the banner of his new business, Prosperity Partners.

The University of Western Australia has amended its legal claim against former staff member Dr Bruce Gray and the company he founded, Sirtex Medical Ltd, over ownership of various intellectual property.

Smallgoods manufacturer D'Orsogna Ltd has instituted a corporate restructuring that could result in the sale of shares in the family-owned business, and potentially the entire business, following a sharp fall in profit.

Strong growth in commodity prices, combined with solid production levels, has created a new and welcome problem for an increasing number of mid-cap mining companies in Western Australia: how to spend their rapidly expanding cash reserves.

An 8 per cent fall in university applications in Western Australia for 2006 entry had an immediate impact on staff numbers at Edith Cowan University.

Manufacturing is widely perceived to be an industry in terminal decline, so it’s rather surprising that the Australian Bureau of Statistics found it to be one of Western Australia’s biggest industry sectors, supporting more than 100,000 jobs.